Over the past decade, American companies have tried hard to find ways to discourage senior managers from feathering their own nests at the expense of their shareholders. The three most popular reforms have been recruiting more outside directors in order to make boards more independent, linking bosses pay to various performance measures, and giving bosses share options, so that they have the same long-term interests as their shareholders.
These reforms have been widely adopted by America’s larger companies, and surveys suggest that many more companies are thinking of following their lead. But have they done any good? Three papers presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management in Boston this week suggest not.
Start with those independent boards. On the face of it, dismissing the boss’s friends from the board and replacing them with outsiders looks a perfect way to make senior managers more accountable. But that is not the conclusion of a study by Professor James Westphal. Instead, he found that bosses with a boardroom full of outsiders spend much of their time building alliances, doing personal favors and generally pleasing the outsiders.
All too often, these seductions succeed. Mr. Westphal found that, to a remarkable degree, “independent” boards pursue strategies that are likely to favor senior managers rather than shareholders. Such companies diversify their business, increase the pay of executives and weaken the link between pay and performance.
To assess the impact of performance-related pay, Mr. Westphal asked the bosses of 103 companies with sales of over $ 1 billion what measurements were used to determine their pay. The measurements varied widely, ranging from sales to earnings per share. But the researcher’s big discovery was that bosses attend to measures that affect their own incomes and ignore or play down other factors that affect a company’s overall success.
In short, bosses are quick to turn every imaginable system of corporate government to their advantage一which is probably why they are the people who are put in charge of things. Here is a paradox for the management theorists: any boss who cannot beat a system designed to keep him under control is probably not worth having.
1.What is the purpose of the large companies in recruiting outsiders and putting them on the board of directors?
2.What does Professor James Westphal’s study suggest?
3.Which of the following statements is true?
4.How does the author feel about the efforts to control senior executives?
问题1选项
A.To diversify the business of corporation.
B.To enhance the cooperation between the senior managers and the board directors.
C.To introduce effective reforms in business management.
D.to protect the interests of the shareholders.
问题2选项
A.Boardroom reforms have failed to achieve the desired result.
B.Outside board directors tend to be more independent.
C.With a boardroom full of outsiders, senior managers work more conscientiously.
D.Cooperation between senior managers and board directors suffered from the reforms.
问题3选项
A.Corporate executives in general are worth the high pay they receive.
B.The income of corporate executives is proportional to the growth of corporate profits.
C.Corporate executives tend to take advantage of their position to enrich themselves.
D.The performance of corporate executives affects their own interests more than those of the shareholders.
问题4选项
A.Doubtful.
B.Optimistic.
C.Positive.
D.Approving.
第1题:
1.【选项释义】
1. What is the purpose of the large companies in recruiting outsiders and putting them on the board of directors? 1. 大企业把外来者招进董事会的目的是什么？
A. To diversify the business of corporation. A. 使公司业务多样化。
B. To enhance the cooperation between the senior managers and the board directors. B. 加强高级管理人员与董事会之间的合作。
C. To introduce effective reforms in business management. C. 对企业管理进行有效改革。
D. To protect the interests of the shareholders. D. 保护股东利益。
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据第一段的内容“美国公司一直在努力寻找方法来阻止高级管理人员以牺牲股东利益为代价来牟取私利。最受欢迎的三项改革是：招募更多的外部董事以使董事会更加独立……”，可知，招募外来者进董事会的目的是阻止高级管理人员以牺牲股东利益为代价来牟取私利，即保护股东的利益，D项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A项“使公司业务多样化”是韦斯特法尔的研究发现，与题干无关，属于张冠李戴；
B项“加强高级管理人员与董事会之间的合作”根据解题思路可知，该项曲解原文；
C项“对企业管理进行有效改革”，根据第二段最后两句“但这些改革真的有效吗？本周在波士顿召开的管理学会年会上提交的三篇论文表明，答案是否定的。”可知，把外来者招进董事会的这种改革是没有作用的，该项属于反向干扰。
第2题:
2.【选项释义】
2. What does Professor James Westphal’s study suggest? 2. 詹姆斯•韦斯特法尔教授的研究表明了什么？
A. Boardroom reforms have failed to achieve the desired result. A. 董事会改革未能达到预期效果。
B. Outside board directors tend to be more independent. B. 外部董事往往更独立。
C. With a boardroom full of outsiders, senior managers work more conscientiously. C. 在董事会里挤满了局外人的情况下，高级经理们工作起来会更加认真。
D. Cooperation between senior managers and board directors suffered from the reforms. D. 高层管理人员和董事会之间的合作受到了改革的影响。
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据关键词Professor James Westphal定位到第三段，最后一句提到“James Westphal教授发现董事会里全是外部人士的老板们花了很多时间来建立联盟，牟取私利，以及取悦外部人士”，潜在意思是说，董事会改革并没有达到预期效果。选项A符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
B项“外部董事往往更独立”和D项“高层管理人员和董事会之间的合作受到了改革的影响”没有体现，属于无中生有；
C项“在董事会里挤满了局外人的情况下，高级经理们工作起来会更加认真”，根据第三段第二和第三句“从表面上，将老板的心腹赶出董事会，并由外部人士取代他们，似乎是让高级管理人员更负责任的完美方法。但这并不是James Westphal教授的一项研究的结论。”可知，该项并不是詹姆斯•韦斯特法尔教授的研究结果，该项属于反向干扰。
第3题:
3.【选项释义】
3. Which of the following statements is true? 3. 下列哪一项是正确的？
A. Corporate executives in general are worth the high pay they receive. A. 一般来说，公司高管们的高薪是值得的。
B. The income of corporate executives is proportional to the growth of corporate profits. B. 公司高管的收入与公司利润的增长成正比。
C. Corporate executives tend to take advantage of their position to enrich themselves. C. 公司高管们往往利用他们的职位来牟利。
D. The performance of corporate executives affects their own interests more than those of the shareholders. D. 公司高管的业绩对其自身利益的影响大于对股东利益的影响。
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据第三段最后一句“董事会里全是外部人士的老板们花了很多时间来建立联盟，牟取私利，以及取悦外部人士”可推断，公司高管利用自己的职位之便来取悦外部人士，以牟取私利，C项“公司高管们往往利用他们的职位来牟利”符合题意。故该题选择C项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A项“一般来说，公司高管们的高薪是值得的”，根据第四段最后一句“这类公司将业务多元化，增加高管薪酬，并削弱薪酬与业绩之间的联系（increase the pay of executives and weaken the link between pay and performance）”可知，董事会改革削弱了薪酬和业绩之间的关系，虽然高管薪酬增加了，但可以推断，高管并不值得这么高的薪酬，该项属于反向干扰；
B项“公司高管的收入与公司利润的增长成正比”，原文中没有提到公司利润和公司高管收入的比较，属于无中生有；
D项“公司高管的业绩对其自身利益的影响大于对股东利益的影响”文中也没有提到，无中生有。
第4题:
4.【选项释义】
4. How does the author feel about the efforts to control senior executives? 4. 作者如何看待控制高级管理人员的努力？
A. Doubtful. A. 怀疑的。
B. Optimistic. B. 乐观的。
C. Positive. C. 积极的。
D. Approving. D. 赞许的。
【考查点】观点态度题。
【解题思路】通读全文可知，作者所述的三项改革举措并未收到预期的效果，反而适得其反，事与愿违，由此我们可以判断作者对其最终的结果显然持怀疑的态度，所以A项“怀疑的”正确。
【干扰项排除】B项“乐观的”、C项“积极的”和D项“赞许的”根据解题思路可知，属于反向干扰。
